The Daily Bulletin Archive

The Honorary Degree Committee is calling for recommendations from campus constituents for future honorary degree recipients. Please complete the survey to recommend a candidate. The committee is asking for recommendations before Monday, January 1, 2024.

The honorary doctorate is the highest form of recognition offered by the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York (“SUNY Trustees”) to persons of exceptional distinction.

Purposes of Honorary Degrees

1. To recognize excellence in the fields of the degrees authorized at SUNY campuses as well as business, philanthropy, public affairs, and public service, which exemplify SUNY’s mission.

2. To honor meritorious and outstanding service to SUNY, the State of New York, the United States, or humanity at large.

3. To recognize those whose lives and significant achievements serve as examples of SUNY’s aspirations for its diverse student body.

4. To elevate SUNY in the eyes of the world by honoring individuals who are widely known and highly regarded for achievements in their respective fields of endeavor.

Criteria

1. The basis for the selection of a degree recipient shall be consistent with the Purposes of Honorary Degrees stated above.

2. The nominee must be distinguished, and the person’s achievements must be both relevant and appropriate to the nominating campus. Eligibility for nomination is restricted to persons of state, national, or international stature.

3. The nominee should have a connection with the campus or SUNY as a whole. The nominee may be a graduate of SUNY or may have participated in campus programs, partnered in scholarly or creative activity with its faculty or students, or assisted the campus with programmatic development. Furthermore, the connection may be established through national or international prominence in a particular discipline in which the campus has a program. Alternatively, candidates may have achieved national or international prominence in their field.

4. Substantive service to SUNY or the particular campus is not sufficient justification for an honorary degree if the individual does not meet the other criteria for honorary degrees. Under those circumstances, a campus award is recommended.